The Sovereignty of God and The Depravity of Man

"Why did God make all these rules if he knew we were going to sin?" asked a student last night at a small fellowship-based youth group. That's a good question, isn't it? How would you answer that? I have heard many responses to this question, but few that are satisfying. One response I've heard is that "All of life is a test, and God is testing us by putting these rules in place".  Although this response does have some weight to it, it only deals with how a Christian could apply this to their life, it doesn't deal with the intellectual side of things, in fact, it raises more objections. Here are a few that come to mind: Why would God give us a test he knew we were going to fail? A test for what, I thought we were saved by grace? This answer doesn't get to the heart of the question because it doesn't deal with the ability of God to control everything (omnipotence) by his nature. In other words, it doesn't deal with the question of why God didn't prevent us from sinning if he had the power to do so. God is all-powerful. God can't choose not to control because if something else had control, God wouldn't, and therefore he isn't really a soveriegn God. People will say "so He can't choose to give us free will? Doesn't that limit God's sovereignty?" Let me ask that person a question: can God make a stone too big for him to lift? No, because no matter the size of the stone, God would be able to lift it. He would, by definition, have to be infinitely bigger than the stone. Therefore there are things God cannot do because he can't not do something. Sorry for the double negative. One of those things he can't not do is control everything, including us. That is not to say we don't have free will, it is to say God has control over our free will.

My goal is to answer this question while remembering the sovereignty of God. So let's go back to the beginning. Only God exists. Now it's important to remember at this point that God is omniscient (all-knowing). 

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:9

In the ability to know everything exists not only the ability to know the outcome of a created world, but the outcome of every possible world. In other words, God doesn't just know what is, but would could be. Before God created man, he wanted to create for the soul purpose of glorifying himself through us. Therefore, as he looked at all possible worlds he could create, he instantaneously knew the one that would bring him the most glory: the world we live in today. He chose to create this world because he would be most glorified by the people on it, the outcomes of their lives, the fall of man and the gift of God, and the grace of God shown to man because of man's depravity. It's important to realize God created not for us, but for him.

"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'"

- Isaiah 46: 8-10

Getting back to the original question with the idea that we are created for God in mind, I would answer something like this: God did not create the rules for us. You say 'Why did God create the rules if he knew WE were going to sin?'. That makes the subject of the sentence more focused on us, not God. A better question would be 'Why did God decide to use sin in order to fulfill his purpose?' The question is not why did God create rules, for he did not create rules, his nature requires that if something be in his presence (as man was in the beginning) they must be perfect, and perfection has boundaries. If God is perfect, he can't look on imperfection. Furthermore, if God is perfect, than imperfection is possible. For example, if  people can get in an airplane, than not getting in the airplane is possible. However, if people can't get in an airplane, than getting in an airplane is impossible. Imperfection exists partly because God is perfect. But it mainly exists because God's character requires it to. 

God made rules in order to remain as God. We didn't follow those rules because God's purpose was to show us his grace and love through our depravity and therefore be further glorified through our better understanding of who He is. He didn't create the rules so that we would sin, he created us as who we are, knowing we would 'fall short of the glory of God'.